SCARBOROUGH, Maine — Dozens headed out to Scarborough on Saturday for the 13th Annual St. Maximilian Kolbe 5K Road Race, making this year its biggest yet.
"The rain has held off ... It's been wonderful. We've had a great response from the community," Race Director Tyge Cunningham said.
Each year, money raised for the event goes toward supporting the South Portland Food Cupboard, a partnership the two organizations have had for 10 years of the road race.
Over those years, South Portland Food Cupboard Executive Director Dwayne Hopkins said the event has raised close to $40,000. Last year, the race raised $4,000.
"When you boil all the numbers down to those smaller numbers, the registration fee at the race will feed one person for an entire month," Hopkins said.
That support means more now than ever: Hopkins said food distribution for the cupboard has increased by about 57 percent within just the past few months.
"We spent $60,000, which is almost 170 percent over budget, just on groceries, and that's due to the increased prices everywhere. So the money that comes in from this race makes a big difference," Hopkins added.
After a kid's fun-run, folks ran the 5,000-meter course down Black Point and Fog Roads and back to the church.
Crossing the finish line first overall was Nicholas Denari, who is doing double to give back for today's event.
"[The race] felt fine; I was helping to volunteer with my Cheverus cross country runners and then they asked if I could come out and run the race, so I decided to," Denari said.